This wooden music box is a highly refined antique. As well as sporting an intricate design to the exterior, it is a functional object, with its tuneful melodies evoking the history of the piece.
Of a rectangular shape, the device itself is enclosed within a wooden box. The lid is adorned with a pleasing marquetry design: sprays of flowers and foliage surround a pair of songbirds, reflecting the musical nature of the object. An elegant key sits within an escutcheon on the front side of the box.
Opening the lid reveals the mechanism itself, which is operated by a lever to the left side, revealed by the wooden exterior flap. This example, and indeed most music boxes at the time, was made using a pinned cylinder which rotates against a comb. Once the first tune is completed, the cylinder shifts slightly so that the teeth of the comb line up with a new set of pins on the same cylinder – thus allowing for one box to play multiple pieces.
To the interior of the lid is a handwritten tune listing. Titled ‘Musique de Geneve’ the note lists the eight songs, as well as the maker and recipient. The former is Nicole Frères, one of the foremost makers of music boxes at the end of the 19th century. A highly similar music box by the company can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The recipient is ‘T. Cox Savory & C. 54, Cornhill, London’. Thomas Cox Savory was primarily a retailer and silversmith, who had premises in London during the 19th century. The label suggests that this clock, whilst made in Switzerland, was exported to be sold in England.
This truly charming music box is a fine example of its type, made by one of the leading makers of the era.